The Swing Shift Shuffle is a radio program of swing, big band, jazz, boogie woogie and other popular music from the 1930's and 40's that airs every Wednesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. (US Central Time) on WEVL 89.9 FM in Memphis, Tennessee, with a live webcast at wevl.org. In addition to the radio show, this blog is dedicated to all aspects of the Swing Era, including art, automobiles, cartoons, comics, history, movies, music, news, science, technology, and anything else that happened during that time. It also includes announcements about events in the Memphis/Mid-South area related to the Swing Era, such as classic movies, concerts, dances, lectures, etc. If you see something that fits the description, send it to me at tim@wevl.org. If you would like more information about the radio show, just go to the Radio Show FAQ page.

It is time once again for the preview of TCM programming from The Hollywood Revue. Gene Hackman is the Star of the Month, and there will be a salute to the late Gene Wilder. TCM will also be doing a spotlight on slapstick comedy every Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

The Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session continues at the Rumba Room this Friday night. Free beginner lesson at 7:00 p.m. Free admission before 7:00 and $5 thereafter. Lesson by Jason and Angela with music by DJ Ben.

Monday, August 29, 2016

Off Interstate 15 in San Bernadino County, California, is a 4.5 mile long rural road known as Zzyzx Road. I have never seen it, heard of it, or to my knowledge, ever been near it. This item on Boing Boing, however, provided such an interesting story, and one with its origins in the Swing Era, that it merited posting.

At the end of Zzyzx Road lies Zzyzx, founded by 1940's radio evangelist, snake-oil salesman and all-around con man, Curtis Howe Springer. From Road Trippers:

Curtis Howe Springer was one of those old-timey radio evangelists, way back in the day. However, he wasn't actually a minister of any kind. He was born in 1896 in Birmingham, Alabama, and spent much of his early life convincing people he was a doctor. . . .

Throughout his life Curtis also claimed to be a boxing teacher in the U.S. Army, the "Dean of Greer College" (a defunct/bankrupt school in Chicago), he was a rabble-rouser during Prohibition (he was in favor of it, and railed against "Demon Rum"). He also loved making up universities. Like "National Academy, The Springer School of Humanism, the American College of Doctors and Surgeons, the Westlake West Virginia College, and two non-existent osteopathy schools in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. . . ."

Curtis founded several health spas during the 1930s and 1940s. . . . However, Curtis really hated paying taxes, so most of his "spas" were seized by the Feds. Then in 1944, Curtis hooked up with a new lady and she filed a claim to 12,800 acres of Mojave Desert in California. Springer named the land Zzyzx Mineral Springs resort. The purpose was so that it would be known as "the last word in health," and to build his resort he hired a bunch of homeless men from L.A.'s infamous Skid Row.

Springer even faked the hot spring! Seriously! He used a boiler to heat pools around the resort, which ultimately included a 60-room hotel, spa, mineral baths, a radio studio, and a church, of course. So, even though he wasn't a minister or a doctor, over 200 radio stations carried his program. Listeners would send in donations for his "cures", which he claimed could relieve constipation, hemorrhoids, hair loss and, oh yeah, cancer. However, what people were getting was, well, actually a bit better than snake oil. It was mostly celery, carrot and parsley juices.

Friday, August 26, 2016

I was surprised to discover that I have not posted this cartoon before now. This 1934 Fleischer Bros. animated short was the only time Betty Boop appeared in color, which may be why the Fleischers chose to make her hair red just for this occasion. From the Internet Archive, here is Poor Cinderella.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

As Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine points out, the plot of this 1941 The Ghostepisode has more elements than the periodic table. The Ghost is a wizard with a cape, who gets sent to Mars, through a time machine, to find red Martian rocks that are essential to America's defense, and discovers little Martian men with ray guns, ruled by a tall blond.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

The Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session continues at the Rumba Room this Friday night with live music from the Harlequin Jazz Band. Free beginner lesson at 7:00 p.m. and $7 admission. Lesson by Ceasar and Monica with music by DJ Monica during band breaks.

Monday, August 22, 2016

I saw this circa 1930's-40's radio station postcardwhile browsing around American Radio History. The call letters for radio station WMPS stood for "Memphis Press Scimitar," which was once one of the daily newspapers that served the city. Although the newspaper is gone, the station is still around, and up until about five years ago, it had an "adult standards" format (Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, etc.).

Thursday, August 18, 2016

I have no idea of the stories in these 1930's-40's pulp fiction books were any good, but the cover art always makes me want to read them. The Golden Age posted this series of pulp fiction covers from a number of different genres, including crime, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, war and even western.

The title of this post on the National World War II Museum site may be slightly misleading, in that it led me to think that Silly Putty was both invented during WW2, and served some purpose during the war effort. Stranger things have happened. Only the latter is accurate. Like many other great inventions, Silly Putty was an accident: a failed attempt to create artificial rubber (certainly useful to the war effort) that bounced when accidentally dropped, so meriting a patent. The rest is history.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

The Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session continues at the Rumba Room this Friday night. Free beginner lesson at 7:00 p.m. Free admission before 7:00 and $5 thereafter. Lesson by Jim and Bethany with music by DJ Bethany.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Paleofuture posted another fine of example of how little times change. While the term "hacking" may not have been used in the 1930's to describe invading someone's privacy, it was still done, and in a manner that is not too different from today. This post explains how someone hacked Myrna Loy's home and work telephone in 1938. As is the case today, the weakest point in the security was not the technology, but the people.

Thursday, August 11, 2016

I can always find a new hero in classic comics. This time it is Phantasmo, who is essentially omnipotent. He mentally projects a caped version of himself out of his body, and that version can - as far as I can tell - do anything. In this story, posted on Four Color Shadows, the projected Phantasmo flies off the Empire State Building to save a suicidal army officer, then flies to Panama, and lifts a burning cargo ship to the top of a mountain. His only apparent weakness is, when he projects himself, his physical body just locks up and goes stiff, resulting in medics carting him off to the morgue.

While doing some research for a broadcast of the SSS, a friend referred me to American Radio History. This site features thousands of searchable scanned copies of broadcasting, technical and early radio magazines from the dawn of radio into the 1980's. I was looking through copies of Billboard from the 1940's for tour schedules ("skeds") of swing orchestras ("orks"), and found fascinating insights into the era.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

The Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session continues at the Rumba Room this Friday night. Free beginner lesson at 7:00 p.m. Free admission before 7:00 and $5 thereafter. Lesson by Jason and Anna with music by DJ Anna.

Monday, August 8, 2016

Being in the advertising industry during World War II must have been a surreal experience, especially if your clients were manufacturers of durable goods. All large scale production was under government contract cranking out the arsenal of democracy, and nobody had anything to sell to the general public, so what did one advertise? The promise of a brighter tomorrow. Paleofuture posted this 1945 ad from Detrola Radio, with hints of the newest gadget, television.

Friday, August 5, 2016

This encore from 2012 is a "Screen Song" story of wedding attended by a menagerie of animals, with a bouncing ball sing-a-long of "Me And My Gal" in the middle. There is a surprise reveal of the bride at the end. From the Internet Archive, here is the 1949 short Marriage Wows.

The Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session continues at the Rumba Room this Friday night. Free beginner lesson at 7:00 p.m. Free admission before 7:00 and $5 thereafter. Lesson by Josey and Angela with music by DJ Josey.